Mediterranean herbs: Ultimate drought solution

Pungent aromas link plants from the world’s driest regions. This is not the feminine floral essence, but a powerful scent often musky and acrid, carried in the rich oils that are shared by arid zone species.

In lands of little rain and hot dry winds such as the Sirocco of northern Africa or the Santa Anas of Los Angeles, oils in the indigenous plants are key to their survival over a long, dry season. These oils serve a purpose — to replace moisture lost from foliage and wood. Oil helps to keep cells from collapsing from dehydration, and the potent aromas discourage hungry wildlife that eats anything during drought.

The dry, inhospitable birthplace of our most redolent herbs means they are underestimated as drought-resistant plants. All too often they are coddled in cool, damp gardens where their oils fail to accumulate, leaving these individuals lacking in aroma.

European herb growers agree that the most potent fragrance comes from drought-stressed plants. This is why the aroma of sagebrush is so powerful during the summers of the dry American West.

In the dry season, cuttings from stressed herbs dehydrate more quickly, which reduces the percentage of oil lost in the process. More succulent herbs take considerably longer to dry, which allows proportionately more oil to evaporate. This explains why herb growing tends to be most common in southern Europe, where conditions are drier and warmer overall.

From this history, realize that gardens in drought-stricken regions are perfectly tailored to growing all the Mediterranean herbs cold-hardy enough to survive the winter. Many of these have woody stems and branches, which are described as subshrubs. Woody parts allow them to weather extreme drought by temporarily defoliating at any time of year to lie dormant until rains return.

Herbaceous perennial species of this group use a different strategy. These die back to the earth in drought. However, roots remain alive underground as they too hunker down until wetter times.

Some of these herbs are preferred in the kitchen; others are relegated to the boudoir. Still more are so pungent they drive away fleas and vermin with their oils. All of these herbs appear in the parterres of southern France, Italy and southern Spain and even Greece, where patterned gardens are beautiful in wet seasons and dry.

The four-quadrant garden is the most common, known in France as a potager, where leafy greens and other edibles are grown during moister seasons. This design is the perfect solution for drought, because it has so much to offer the household from these useful plants.

It’s an ideal choice to replace your water-guzzling lawn because it can be resized to fit any space. It’s simply a square divided into four equal compartments set around a circular or square center open space.

The foursquare garden is often slightly elevated above the surrounding grade (typically the thick side of a brick is used to set depth and hold back the edges). This helps to raise the root crown or main stem above more perennially wet ground, most often poorly drained clay. The woody subshrubs share greatest sensitivity; the crown tends to rot just below the surface.

Although the herbs detailed here are described in their botanical names as officinalis or vulgare, this signals that they are the same used since medieval times by apothecaries. For greater diversity, collect their hybrids and varieties.

Whether you experience drought or simply seek more sustainable choices in your garden, look to the age-old European herbs in their orderly little gardens to solve problems. These are fine drought-savvy candidates, but remember you are planting a medicine chest, spice drawer and a cupboard of scented gifts for friends and family.

Maureen Gilmer is an author, horticulturist and landscape designer. Learn more at www.moplants.com. Contact her at mogilmer@yahoo.com or P.O. Box 891, Morongo Valley, CA 92256.